High School Football: La Salle eliminated by Coatesville

DOWNINGTOWN — They were down by three touchdowns, and three of their best players were on the sidelines.

Their fans, staring up at both the scoreboard and the pouring rain, were making their way to the parking lot.

The Explorers of La Salle High never expected to be behind by three touchdowns early in the fourth quarter of the PIAA Class AAAA Eastern final to Coatesville.

Yet there they were.“All we could do,” said quarterback Chris Kane, “was keep playing.”

That’s what they did, and the result was one of the most entertaining football games anyone has seen in many a moon.

True, the Red Raiders prevailed, 42-35, to earn a berth at next Saturday’s PIAA Class AAAA Championship final at Hersheypark Stadium.

But oh, what could have been.A couple of dropped passes that were potential game-tying touchdowns will undoubtedly haunt the Explorers between now and next season. And La Salle head coach Drew Gordon said he was leaning toward going for a game-winning, two-point conversion had La Salle scored.

But what Gordon said he hoped his team got out of the disappointing result was a lesson.

“I hope they learned the lesson that you never give up,” Gordon said. “We didn’t convert at the end, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort.

“We got our shot when we got inside the 20, and we thought we were going to win the game.”

That didn’t happen. But no one of the 7,000-plus fans who packed Downingtown West’s Kottmeyer Stadium left unsatisfied.

The contest began with a delay of game penalty against Coatesville on the opening kickoff, a preview of things to come for the Raiders, who were penalized eight times in the first quarter, with six accepted (they would finish with 12 flags against them).

And while the Raiders made early mistakes, La Salle made some early hay.

Taking over at midfield following a short punt on Coatesville’s first possession, the Explorers went 51 yards on two plays, the first a 44-yard strike down the right sideline from Kane to fullback Mike Eife. One play later, Jimmy Herron scored around the left side out of the wildcat, and La Salle had the early lead.

But after La Salle’s third drive died on downs at the Coatesville 25, the Raiders turned to their forte - the big play - to even the score.

Kick-started by a 48-yard run by Dre Boggs, Coatesville went 75 yards on nine plays, with a perfectly designed screen pass against a fourth-down La Salle blitz becoming an 11-yard touchdown pass from Emmett Hunt to Daquan Worley.

“We made some mistakes when we got in the red zone,” Kane said of the aborted drive, “and they grabbed the momentum.”

Adding insult to injury, La Salle star wideout/defensive back Sean Coleman was carried off the field with 3:30 left in the first quarter after suffering an ankle injury following a pass reception, and did not return.

Soon, Coleman would have some unwanted company on the sidelines.

Celebrating their first score, the Raiders, seemingly, were just warming up, and after a La Salle three-and-out they scored on their next possession.

A 47-yard pass play from Hunt to Worley was the key play on a 75-yard, six-play march that ended with Hunt plowing into the end zone from the 3-yard line.

It became 21-7, Coatesville just 3:34 later when Worley polished off a six-play, 60-yard drive with a 6-yard score with 5:23 remaining in the half.

“They’re a good team and they were playing with a lot of emotion,” said La Salle linebacker Zaire Franklin. “But it hurt that we were playing without three of our best players, who are also three of our leaders.”

Soon after Coleman went down, Explorers two-way lineman Tom Spiteri left the game with what was reported to be a possible ACL injury. Eife soon followed with an ankle injury.

Kane hit his first three passes on the enusing drive, the last one a 41-yarder to Jordan Meachum, to move the ball to the Coatesville 12. Three plays later, Kane scored from the 3, and the Explorers were within a touchdown.

Three snaps from scrimmage after that score the game was tied when La Salle defensive end Ryan Coonahan stepped in front of Hunt’s attempted screen pass and rambled 27 yards, untouched, to paydirt.

That tied the game with 1:39 left in the half.

But a long kickoff return by Boggs, which ended with a La Salle personal foul penalty, set up the Raiders at the La Salle 26. Hunt found a wide-open Jones five plays later for a 3-yard touchdown, and the Raiders had a 28-21 lead at the break.

Amazingly, after specializing in two- and three-minute drives throughout the first half, Coatesville turned into clock killers in the second.

The Raiders utilized a 13-play, 5:48 drive to open the second half, and stretched their lead to 35-21 on a 30-yard pass play from Hunt to Jones.

After La Salle failed to gain a first down, Coatesville turned in a 5:55 drive, that ended with Worley scoring from the 5, to open the Raiders’ first three-touchdown lead of the game, and send some Explorers fans to the exits.

The Explorers weren’t done, however, and drew within 42-28 on a 46-yard strike from Kane to Herron with 8:06 left in the game.

“We picked it up,” Kane said. “They had taken the momentum, and we had to get it back.”

Things got antsy for the Raiders when La Salle cashed in a Hunt fumble, going 53 yards on five plays, with Meachum scoring from the three to make it 42-35 with 4:38 to play.

It got even crazier when the Raiders offense was held to a three-and-out and La Salle got the ball back at its own 46 with 2:48 left following a long Herron punt return.

A defensive holding penalty gave the Explorers a first down past midfield, a 15-yard Meachum run took the ball to the Raiders 29.

A Kane-to-Meachum pass gained La Salle a first down at the Coatesville 19. But that was as far as the rally would go

Two incompletions followed, one a drop that looked to be a certain touchdown.

On third down, Kane, being dragged down by the Raiders rush, was intercepted by Devonte Suber to seal the win.

The rally was over, as was the Explorers season.

But there was pride mixed in liberally with their disappointment.

“We had hoped we’d be here at the beginning of the year,” Kane said, “and we worked hard for it.”

“Honestly, I hope Coatesville goes on to win (the state title),” Franklin said. “They’re a good team, and I’d like to think if we had to lose, it was to the state champs.”